Man Attacks Driver With Chemical For Denying Him Entry Into Packed Bus

A man sprayed a chemical substance in the face of a Sydney bus driver Thursday night for denying him entry as the bus was full.

The New South Wales Police Force is looking for the passenger and has appealed to the public for information. Describing it as "despicable behavior”, an officer said the incident took place along Oxford Street in Sydney’s inner east when the 41-year-old bus driver stopped at the stop and told the waiting passenger that he could not board as the bus was full.

"As the bus was at capacity, the driver told a man waiting at the bus stop he could not get on. Witnesses have told police the man began to abuse the driver, before spraying the driver in the face with a chemical, suspected of being capsicum spray,” police said in a statement, Ten Daily reported.

Police said the man was denied entry for "safety reasons" as the bus was already overcrowded.

CCTV footage released by the police shows the man boarding the bus. He then refuses to get down and instead sits on the dashboard of the bus. He sprays the chemical in the driver's face as the latter tries to push the man away and block it.

Police Superintendent Gavin Woods said, "That particular male person has then, after a very robust discussion with the bus driver, removed a canister from his pocket and sprayed and deployed on at least six individual occasions, into the bus driver's face.”

He added the driver “was incapacitated” and unable to continue his duty. He was then treated by paramedics after he experienced difficulty in breathing. The passenger, wearing a white long-sleeved business shirt and carrying a satchel, fled the scene.

The bus driver was "out working hard, working for the community, driving a bus full of commuters, and for that he was attacked. It's despicable behavior obviously by a coward. We don't want this behavior in this community,” Wood said, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He urged the public to help identify the man with the CCTV footage and also appealed to the man to surrender.

"You need to come forward. It's very clear from the footage, members of the community will know who you are. Let your conscience be clear, don't wait for a knock on the door from us,” he said.

The head of safety at State Transit Authority, Wayne Potter, said the driver has recovered and is back to work.

"We've had a number of antisocial incidents in the last 48 hours due to the time of year and this sort of behavior must stop; it's just outrageous," he said.